


Wash Me Away

by thunderingskies



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Magic, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Thieves Guild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-15 15:50:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9242753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderingskies/pseuds/thunderingskies
Summary: [On indefinite hiatus]The life of a thief isn't one that Kyoutani expected to fall into, but he gets by; when out on a job he steals a mysterious glass ball, and he gets more than he bargained for in the form of a fast-talking, energetic water sprite. Apparently, love is part of the deal.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dragona15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragona15/gifts).



> This goes out to Dragona, who inspired this, so many other AUs, puts up with my shit and my incessant obsession with TeruKyou and so many other rarepairs.

As a young child, there was nothing more that Kyoutani wanted than to become a knight.

One of the guardsmen, charged to protect the people; it called for skill, strength and bravery, all of which Kyoutani had in spades. He was using a sword by the age of seven, and was skilled with knives by eleven; by fourteen he could disarm basic spells, and always had a good perception of the world around him.

So how did he end up here?

Well, you can call it what you will. A bad decision, or ten; a wrong turn down a dark path, or a string of bad luck. Fate, destiny. Whatever it is, it’s lead Kyoutani here.

So, yeah. He’s a thief. He’s not robbing old ladies of their last few precious jewels, but he’s no Robin Hood either; he steals what he likes, and what he needs, and doesn’t feel bad about it. It’s gotten him through life so far. He isn’t struggling to get by and feed himself anymore, and he’s actually pretty good at it.

He’s been planning this heist for the better part of the year. Seven months of work has been put into this; casing the biggest wizard’s den this side of the ocean, figuring out how many wizards come and go from this place on a daily basis, and what their schedule is. They must be pretty damn confident that nobody would have the balls to try and rob them because their schedule is so easy, full of holes and it’s basically _asking_ for a pretty little thief to come along and mess things up.

The weather is pretty much perfect; Kyoutani couldn’t have asked for a more cloudy, hazy night. He knows that the perimeter is free of traps and spells; he had Oikawa check last weekend, and then last night just to be sure, and he got the all clear.

He’s timed it all down to the minute. He checks his watch one last time before pulling up his cloak, completing the seal to help blur and obscure his image with magic.

A bribe to a messenger got him the layout of the building, and he’s put it to memory already. Kyoutani moves quickly, and concisely; he slips through corridors, making his way through the building with care. His route is planned carefully to not coincide with any guard rotations, and it’s not long before he finds it.

The entire reason he’s here; the room that could easily put him into retirement with a little luck and the right items.

The wizard’s vault.

One of the biggest in the country, it’s said to be stocked to the brim with old, rare magical items. Most thieves don’t get close because they’re scared of the magic, and scared of the spells; picking up the wrong magical item can mean it’s game-over for an unlucky thief.

Kyoutani usually wouldn’t be so risky, but he’s here on a job to get something very specific for a buyer. He’s not an errand boy, but, well, when the guildmaster asks you to run a job for him, you don’t say no. He doesn’t really know _what_ the item does, but he’ll know what it is when he sees it.

The lock to the door gives way easily once Kyoutani pushes the charmed key Akaashi gave him into the lock; the door turns of its own volition, creakily swinging open into a dark, damp room.

Kyoutani looks around, but still, nobody has seen him.

He’s got five minutes now.

He narrows his eyes, and pulls down his hood; he should be safe in here, and the shrouding spell makes it more difficult for him to focus on details, and he’s really going to be needing to pay attention because this room is _full._

The entire room is lined with huge shelves that are absolutely stuffed full of all sorts of odds and ends. He sees everything from crystal balls to spellbooks to weapons and musical instruments. Where does he start?

Sighing and shaking his head, Kyoutani starts near the door and works his way out. He doesn’t touch anything he can’t identify; he peruses with interest, picking up a few small items that he can recognize that he knows are of value. A mirror, dagger, a few spellbooks; that sort of thing.

He’s nearing the end of his five minutes when he sees it, _finally._

A golden pen, thin and rather simple-looking, considering that it must be magical in some way. Kyoutani doesn’t waste any time thinking about it, though; he snatches it up, stuffing it into his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. He’s eager to get out, and moves a little too quickly; he spins, and knocks a glass ball right off one of the shelves, right towards the floor.

He curses under his breath but _just_ manages to move fast enough to catch it, the cool ball landing right on his palm. He straightens out, and peers inside; it’s dark, so he can’t make out the details, but there’s water sloshing around inside. It hasn’t killed him just through touch though, so he tucks it under his cloak to take with him, too.

There’s footsteps down the hall, but Kyoutani is already on his way out; with the door closed and nothing major gone, hopefully they won’t notice anything’s been stolen for a while. He can’t help but grin to himself as he flees the property, taking refuge in the forest that connects the den to the rest of the town.

He’s in the clear.

Kyoutani pulls down his cloak, grinning; he whips it off, ready for a victory fist bump, and completely forgets about that glass ball full of water, that whips right to the ground and smashes open with a huge _crack_ , water splashing up his leg and all over the ground.

“Ah, fuck,” Kyoutani mumbles, bending down to inspect it. He’s got a fair bit of light from the moon here, but all he sees is glass and water running down the path.

Until-

Wait.

“The fuck is that?” Kyoutani sees _something_ moving around and reaches out, his fingers closing around something slippery and slimey, which he lifts up and sees -

A tiny mermaid?

Kyoutani lifts whatever it is closer to his face to get a better look. It’s maybe nine inches tall, from the top of its head to the tip of its tail; the scales of it’s tail feel scarily real, and are a rich emerald shade. Whatever this is, it looks pretty authentic, and Kyoutani runs a finger along it’s scales, right up to where they turn into more human-looking skin, which feels cool and rich and moves like it’s breathing-

And then he blinks.

He does _not_ shriek, nearly falling back in surprise; the little mermaid - no, Kyoutani can see now that he’s a merman - flicks his tail, blinking and looking up at Kyoutani hazily.

He blinks, once, twice, and then three times before his mouth falls open.

“I’m _out?!”_

For a tiny little thing, his voice is surprisingly loud; he perks right up, wiggling up in Kyoutani’s palm, the water around him moving of it’s own volition. The little mermaid laughs, and suddenly he’s _floating_ up and spinning all around, stretching his fins and inspecting Kyoutani’s face and laughing and rambling so fast that Kyoutani can’t even understand him-

And that’s when it clicks.

He's a water sprite.

Rare magical creatures that are barely ever seen, these days; they tend to hide from humans, who covet their powerful magic, their immortality.

But what was it doing in that glass ball?

“Hey!” The water sprite laughs and spins up towards Kyoutani’s face, and Kyoutani can see how ecstatic he looks, happiness drawn on his tiny little features, “How did I get out?”

It takes a minute for Kyoutani to realize the question is directed at _him._ “Oh, uh, I dropped your ball.” He gestures over to where the glass lays, still smashed, on the dirt pathway.

“You _dropped it?!_ ” The sprite is full-on laughing now, “That’s too good! I bet the mages didn’t like that!” He spins over to inspect the broken glass, poking a piece with one of his tiny hands. “How did I get out? Where are we exactly? I don’t feel any strong magic like I did in that vault - everything was so hazy there - why am I out, and who are you??” The sprite is talking way too fast, and Kyoutani can only shake his head.

“Hah? Slow down, you idiot.” Kyoutani crosses his arms, but the sprite shockingly listens, and comes back to rest in the palm of Kyoutani’s hand. He’s clearly raring to move, though; his entire body is twitching with anticipation and pent-up energy.

“I’m Kyoutani. I was, um…. Retrieving something, and I grabbed your glass ball, too…” He really doesn’t want to say too much; this is going to be a hassle enough as it is, and he’s got no idea how he’s supposed to go about getting rid of a water sprite. Is someone going to want to buy him? He doesn’t have the glass ball anymore, so that won’t work to contain him and his magic-

“Kyoutani! I’m Terushima!” The sprite is right up in Kyoutani’s face, giggling; “Hey, what’s this?” He slips down, pulling at the hilt of Kyoutani’s sword, sheathed at his hip.

“Don’t touch my sword-”

“What’s this?” Terushima’s in his pouch, fumbling through the contents.

“Don’t touch my coin-”

“What’s this?”

Kyoutani groans, “For fuck’s sake, be still!” He pulls Terushima out of his pouch, taking the gold coin he’s holding out of his hand and putting it back in his pouch. Terushima is practically vibrating with excitement; Kyoutani sighs, and decides to try calming him down the same way he does for Tsukishima’s dog; he strokes him nice and slow, from his hair down to the tip of his tail, and Terushima finally, finally relaxes, but he’s still got a ways to go until he gets back to the thieves guild.

It’s going to be a long night.

* * *

They’re almost halfway back when Terushima starts to get antsy again.

Kyoutani sighs, and relents; he’s a bit wary of letting Terushima just fly around in case they run into someone, but at this time of day it’s pretty unlikely, so he lets him go and Terushima flicks his way around the forest, checking out some plants, and trees; mumbling to himself all the while.

Kyoutani tries to not pay any attention to him, he really does, but there’s something about Terushima that just draws your attention like a moth to a flame. He’s always talking animatedly, bouncing around and giggling at absolutely nothing at all. Kyoutani wonders how long he’s been stuck inside that glass ball, as it’s obviously made him at least a little loopy.

The sound of movement beyond the trees has Kyoutani looking up, features tense; he turns to Terushima, who is peering through some leaves high up on a tree.

“Hey, Kyoutani, there is-”

“Get over here, dumbass!” Kyoutani growls, hopping up to try and swipe Terushima, but the sprite is just out of reach. “Hurry _up-”_

“But there’s a-”

“I don’t care, hurry your tiny ass up!”

Terushima lets out an annoyed huff, but relents. He drops down into Kyoutani’s arm, squeaking when Kyoutani shoves him in his shirt pocket, out of sight.

“Thank god, you know you can’t just go flying around for just anyone to see,” Kyoutani huffs, thanking his lucky stars he got the pesky sprite away before whoever it is comes into sight.

Kyoutani takes a step forward and moves through the brush, only to find… nothing.

What?

Terushima mumbles something muffled from his pocket, but with the button done up, there’s no way that Kyoutani can hear what he’s saying.

A low growl resonates behind Kyoutani, and he swallows hard.

Shit.

He turns, slowly as possibly, already knowing what’s behind him, but the sight of it is worse than Kyoutani had hoped it would be.

A bear. And no, not just any bear - in these woods the bears are touched by magic, and hate humans. This one has to be at least nine feet tall, and it’s huge; it’s eyes are big and red, saliva dripping from it’s open mouth. Kyoutani swallows, taking a step back.

The last time he came toe-to-toe with a bear like this, he made it out by the skin of his teeth, and that was only because he had help. Now, he’s exhausted from being awake the last thirty hours, and didn’t even bring his strongest sword-

The bear lunges, and Kyoutani stumbles back; he rolls out of the way, and finds his footing and gets the hell out of there. He’s usually light on his feet, but all he can think about is the scar on his back from his last bear encounter. He swears he can feel the skin where his scar is burn, and it only pushes him to go faster.

He ducks under a low branch, and slides over a rock; he can hear the bear gaining on him, but he can’t look back. He knows the second that he does, it’s all over -

Ah, fuck.

Kyoutani turns just enough to get a look at the beast who is all but three feet away from him; he breathes in harsh, stumbling to whip around, pulling his sword out of his sheath and getting a good grip on it.

He gets a good look at the bear; it’s furious, growling and snapping at him already. Kyoutani slashes forward, getting it across the face, and the bear slinks backwards, before getting angrier and lunging at him.

Teeth graze his arm, but Kyoutani is quick enough to react; he’s no damsel in distress, and gets a clean cut across it’s shoulder. The bear lets out a loud groan but shakes it off, coming back again and again.

Kyoutani grits his teeth; at this rate, he’s going to get a nasty bite before he gets away. He steps back, feeling for the pathway to take him back to the guild. He’s an hour away, tops; if he runs, he’ll get there in time-

Sharp teeth dig into his shoulder and he’s frozen, pain searing through his features; Kyoutani groans in pain, piercing the skin of the bear, but it’s not budging. He’s fucked.

They’re at a standstill, deadlocked; Kyoutani’s mind is racing, trying to figure out how to get out of here. He swallows, steadying his stance, tightening his grip on his sword. If he’s fast, careful, and a little lucky-

A bright light fills his vision, and air shoots back into his lungs as the bear finally lets go of his shoulder. Kyoutani wheezes, stepping back, still holding up his sword as the light fades and a very angry-looking sprite is floating in front of him.

“You _dumb human_ ,” Terushima shouts, hands still glowing with magic, “I _tried to tell you_ that there was a bear there!” He throws his hands forward, and water follows the movement; they push the bear back, like little whips, creating distance between them.

Terushima’s expression flickers, softening when the bear turns, stumbling away, disappearing back deep into the forest. His magic doesn’t stop, though; he turns, making his way back to Kyoutani, looking at his wound.

“Shit, it bit you pretty hard.” Terushima bites his lip, looking a little bit guilty. He brings himself a little closer to Kyoutani’s shoulder, hands reaching out to touch the bite marks gently; Kyoutani flinches at the contact, gritting his teeth, as he nods.

“Yeah, well. Fuck.” Kyoutani sighs, “Can you get me my pack? I’ve can wrap it - wait, can you even lift it?” He makes a face as he shakes his head, realizing. “Stupid question, you just fought off a fucking bear.”

“There’s no need,” Terushima shakes his head, and Kyoutani looks over to see his hands glowing with magic again. “I can heal it.”

“Wait, you little-”

Kyoutani sucks in a breath as that water that Terushima summoned seeps into his wound; he feels it, cold and tingly, running right through his wounds, gathering in a small pool over the torn skin. It hurts, and he closes his eyes, hand drawing into a fist, until suddenly, the pain is gone.

He opens his eyes, and sees Terushima inspecting the spot he was bitten. Only now, there’s no mark in sight - the skin is clean and clear, looking perfectly unmarked. Terushima runs a hand along the spot, and his touch is surprisingly cold; he nods once, happy with his work.

“So you’ve got some magic, huh?” Kyoutani changes the subject, and Terushima nods.

“Well, yeah. All sprites do.” He snickers, mumbling something in a language Kyoutani doesn’t recognize, but he just _knows_ that he’s making fun of him. “Manipulation magic, mostly. Works best with water, but I can do some other stuff.”

Kyoutani lets out a huff - it’s going to be harder than he thought to keep this sprite in check back at the guild… He doesn’t look like any familiar he’s ever seen, and Kyoutani isn’t even a mage so that won’t work-

Wait.

“Other stuff? Like what?” Maybe he can-

“Oh, like teleportation spells, shapeshifting, that sort of thing.”

“So you can… change size, then?” Kyoutani has heard that sprites can adjust their size, and he suspects that this form was only to fit in that glass ball anyway… that might make things a little simpler-

“Do you want me to be full size?” Terushima grins, mischievously, as he bounces out of Kyoutani’s grip, who tries his best to chase and snatch him up again, but it’s clear that Terushima only gets caught when he wants to be caught.

“Hey, now, I didn’t say that-” Kyoutani’s breath hitches; Terushima snaps his fingers, and is enveloped by a beautiful, golden stream of light.

Now, Kyoutani’s seen spells before. There are quite a few mages in the thieves guild, after all, and spells are a great way to sneak more effectively, or teleport valuables without a trace. Those spells, though, are naturally downplayed, and not meant to be seen.

Apparently, Terushima’s magic does not work that way.

His magic glimmers and glows around him, curling around every inch of his body; it expands, extending, as his shapeshifting magic takes form, changing the sprite from his natural form to… a human.

Kyoutani blinks heavily as the magic dissipates, fading out like a bright, sparkling firework, leaving a man in it’s wake. He’s just a fraction shorter than Kyoutani himself, and his face looks even more stunning now, in person; Kyoutani had heard before that magical creatures has this sort of inexplicable look about them, but he never understood it until this moment. It’s beautiful, sure, but more than that - ethereal. His hair is short, and blonde; it hangs over his eyes, looking in dire need of a trim. His tanned skin looks human enough, although Kyoutani can see some deep-coloured scales still just below his belly button, heading downwards, looking flawlessly grafted with the rest of his skin. He notices last his thin, green tail, swishing happily behind him.

Terushima grins, proudly, putting a hand on his hips. “Ta da!” Kyoutani lets his eyes wander, taking in his chest - since he’s not wearing a shirt - down to the worn-looking fabric of his dark slacks that look oddly familiar.

“Humans normally wear shirts, you know?” Kyoutani rolls his eyes - this guy.

“I can’t make something from nothing, you know!” Terushima huffs, looking down at the pants he’s wearing with a look of disgust. “I wouldn’t choose these pants either, but it’s all I could find in your pack when I looked.”

“You’re telling me that you, an extremely powerful sprite, can change your appearance, control all water and live for thousands of years, but you can’t conjure up a _shirt?”_

“Yeah, that about sums it up.’

Kyoutani sighs, but reaches into his pack and fumbles around. He’s sure he’s got an extra something in here anyway, and manages to come up with a tan-coloured shirt, that looks like it’ll probably fit Terushima.

“It’s dirty,” Terushima makes a face as he takes it, examining the fabric.

“You need to cover your scales,” Kyoutani considers for a moment, “and your tail.” He doesn’t need the entire thieves guild finding out that he’s got a sprite on his hands; they have a code, sure, but there’s always a few new recruits that Kyoutani doesn’t know, and certainly doesn’t trust.

That makes Terushima look down and curse under his breath. “I can never get those ones to go away,” he muses, pulling the shirt up and over his head; it covers him well enough, and he mumbles some spell under his breath, snapping his fingers, and his tail disappears. Terushima spins in a circle, once, just to make sure that it’s hidden.

“Better?” He asks, looking at Kyoutani like he wants some sort of confirmation, so Kyoutani gives him a small nod. The shirt fits him well, although the drab colour definitely doesn’t do him any justice.

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

Kyoutani sighs, and rubs a hand over his face.

How the hell is he going to explain this to Sugawara?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sugawara turns his attention to Terushima. His expression is unreadable. “How long were you in there?”
> 
> At mention of his tiny prison, Terushima looks like he wants an out - Kyoutani doesn’t want him to actually run, so he puts a hand on his arm, reassuringly. Terushima glances over at him, before turning his attention back to Sugawara. “I don’t know, a long time. Everything’s really fuzzy...What year is it?”
> 
> Kyoutani’s expression hardens a little. “It’s 1589.”
> 
> “Shit.” Terushima laughs a little, looking down. “It’s been longer than I thought.”

The Thieves Guild, despite what most would imagine, is actually not very well concealed. 

Nestled high along the mountains, far enough from any village that they don’t have to deal with any local authorities - yet close enough that the trade of goods is still easily accessible - is where the main base is set up. 

Nobody really seems to know when the building itself was constructed. Some say that it was built a hundred years ago, by a group of rebels unhappy with the current government; others say they’ve been around for thousands of years, built long before humans ever came into being, when the land was nothing but magical energy and spirits. They believe the guild was created as a meeting place, of sorts, judging by the careful, detailed architecture.

The building itself is massive in scope. It’d be difficult to judge the exact square footage of the building, as it extends across the side of the mountain, dipping into different caves and cliffs. There are too many rooms to count, hallways twisting and turning into each other, so many rooms to hide away in. The only one who knows everyone that’s in at one time is the Guildmaster, but really, that’s just a rumor. If it’s true, Kyoutani has no idea how he does it. 

The main entrance sits just at the edge of the forest, and it’s the only entrance that just anyone can enter, before they’re given their own amulet that grants them entrance to the many other entrances.

The last thing that Kyoutani wants when going into the Guild is to draw any attention to themselves. Really, it can only cause trouble for people to know that he’s bringing in a water sprite. There’s bound to be many thieves interested - and even though Kyoutani doesn’t want to have to deal with this headache himself, he does feel a little responsible since he’s the one who literally stole him out of that vault.

Sighing, he rubs his forehead as he tries to figure out how he’s going to explain all of this to Sugawara. He looks over at Terushima, who has been loud and curious their entire walk, only now he’s fallen silent.

He looks over at Kyoutani, and steps closer to him; he’s practically pressed up next to him, a hand holding on to Kyoutani’s shirt sleeve. What the hell? What is he, now, his caretaker?

He almost opens his mouth to question it, but closes it when he figures that this will actually simplify things, because Terushima won’t wander off accidentally. He wants to get in to see Sugawara, and then out as quickly as possible. The less people who see Terushima, the less chance there’ll be of someone finding out.

Hopefully, Sugawara will know what to do. 

They step right into the Guild, and Kyoutani walks in with purpose.

He’s not new here - in fact, he’s been living at the Guild for years now, since he was a teenager. It’s been home, it’s been refuge. He knows the way around this building like the back of his hand.

There are lots of people in the common areas, but Kyoutani pays them no mind. Terushima looks at everyone curiously as they walk by, looking like he really,  _ really, _ wants to interact with them, but he doesn’t. The grip on Kyoutani’s shirt sleeve gets a little tighter when a few people walk by, some nodding their greetings at Kyoutani, others just staring. Kyoutani doesn’t get it - he knows how powerful Terushima is, so he’s not sure why he seems so… scared.

Kyoutani turns into a quieter corner, wanting to see as few people as possible before he finds Sugawara.

Of course, nothing ever works out according to plan.

“What do we have here?” A loud, amused voice draws Kyoutani’s attention, and he finds none other than Kuroo Tetsurou, resident meddler, stepping in from one of the adjacent rooms. Great.

“I just got back from my quest for Suga,” Kyoutani responds, gruffly, but he’s not too worried about Kuroo. Yeah, he likes to meddle, but despite how much he likes to dick around, Kuroo’s actually Sugawara’s second in command, so Kyoutani knows he’s going to find out about this one way or another. He looks up to see Kuroo lazily pushing himself off the wall, walking closer and circling around him. The thief looks curious - and it shows in the way that the many tattoos curling up his arms light up, glowing softly.

“Who’s your friend?” He looks at him curiously, and Terushima stares back; Terushima is a little bit shorter, but doesn’t seem as fazed by Kuroo, once he sees Kyoutani talking to him like this.

“He’s-”

“Hi!” Terushima opens up his damn mouth and Kyoutani knows that he’s in for trouble, “I’m Terushima Yuuji! Kyou and I here are going to be best friends now. Where did I come from? Well Kyou found me when he dropped my ball and-”

Kyoutani shoves him hard in the ribs with his elbow, “You know what Kuroo, we’ve gotta go! Don’t want to keep Suga waiting.”

Terushima looks over, rubbing his ribs and grumbling, annoyed. He doesn’t look like he wants to stop talking at all - and who could blame him? He’s been alone in that ball for such a long time - but he listens, and follows after Kyoutani who heads further down the hallway, up to the spiral staircase that leads up to the Guildmaster’s quarters. Kuroo gives him a look as he leaves, but doesn’t say anything.

Kuroo’s too damn perceptive.

“Who was that?” Terushima asks as they spin up the staircase, eyes looking around and catching on everything that he can see around him. 

“Kuroo,” is all the answer that he gets, which results in some grumbling - but he’s quickly shut up when they reach the top, and Kyoutani stops in front of a huge door. He lifts up his hand to knock, but Terushima just about knocks him over reaching to open it, which Kyoutani quickly stops with a hand on his chest and a sharp look.

“Knock first, idiot,” he grumbles, showing him how it’s done, and knocking on the door. Do sprites just have no manners, or what? Terushima watches him, and looks a little fascinated. Maybe they didn’t do that back in… whatever time he lived in.

He makes a mental note to actually ask him about that. 

“Come in,” he hears, from inside, so he opens the door, stepping right inside of Sugawara’s quarters.

It’s his office, really - but it’s nothing like a typical office. The room is wide, and open. One side of the room is just a huge, wide window that shows the entire lower side of the mountain. It’s a great view, and an even greater vantage point, showing him anyone who might be trying to sneak in who shouldn’t be. There’s no desk or anything, but a few different couches, and lots of shelves filled with artifacts and magical items that Kyoutani wouldn’t dare touch and risk losing an arm… or two. 

Sugawara is sitting on one of the couches, talking with one of his magical advisors, Oikawa Tooru. The two together are a bit of a lethal combination - Kyoutani would rather not be caught between the two of them - but now both of them are looking at him with a mix of curiosity and amusement. Sugawara stands, and walks over, looking them up and down before focusing on Kyoutani.

“Looks like you made it back in one piece.” He smiles, and Kyoutani nods. He rummages around in his bag for the magical item Sugawara wanted, and Terushima keeps quiet while they talk, and discuss how it all went. 

Kyoutani doesn’t see Oikawa get up from where he was sitting, and walk over towards them. He skirts around Kyoutani, who is busy talking to Sugawara, to take a look at Terushima.

Terushima just watches him - he’s a little distracted being around two people who are so pretty, okay? - as Oikawa reaches out, and takes a hold of his chin, lifting his head up slowly. He gets a good look at Terushima, before letting him go and ruffling his hair.

“Who’s your friend here?” He asks, when Sugawara and Kyoutani are done talking, taking a step back and offering him a comforting smile. Terushima isn’t sure what it is about him - his scent, or maybe something about the magic clinging to him, but Terushima likes him. He’s comforting.

Kyoutani looks from Oikawa to Terushima, sighing softly to himself. “It’s kind of a long story.”

Terushima blinks. “Is it? It’s only been a few hours.”

Sugawara and Oikawa exchange a look, and Kyoutani nods his head. “Yeah, good point. Alright, well, when I was at the Wizard’s Den, I almost knocked over this ball, and when it didn’t kill me, I took it with me. It got… broken, outside, and Terushima here came out of it.” He doesn’t see how Terushima deflates a little bit at learning it was all just an accident - he fixes his expression by the time Kyoutani looks outside. “He’s… um… a water sprite. I think.”

With a nod, Sugawara turns his attention to Terushima. His expression is unreadable. “How long were you in there?”

At mention of his tiny prison, Terushima looks like he wants an out - Kyoutani doesn’t want him to actually run, so he puts a hand on his arm, reassuringly. Terushima glances over at him, before turning his attention back to Sugawara. “I don’t know, a long time. Everything’s really fuzzy...What year is it?”

Kyoutani’s expression hardens a little. “It’s 1589.”

“Shit.” Terushima laughs a little, looking down. “It’s been longer than I thought.”

“How much longer?” Kyoutani asks, after a long, drawn-out pause.

“...Almost a thousand years?”

A  _ thousand years _ ? What was the world even like for Terushima? Kyoutani’s stomach tightens thinking about it - so much makes sense now. His desperation for contact, not knowing the social norms, all of it.

Wait - so does that mean everyone he knew… everyone he cared about… is gone?

It’s a good thing Oikawa breaks the silence, because Kyoutani can’t; he nods over at the couch, putting a hand on Terushima’s arm to guide him over. “Come on in, Teru.” He eases the hot tension in the room, taking Terushima over and sitting him down, drawing him into gentle conversation. Kyoutani doesn’t follow - he stays with Sugawara, who looks at Terushima, mildly concerned.

“He can stay,” Sugawara says at last, after a period of contemplation. “You’ll take care of him, right, Kyoutani?”

Kyoutani nods. He doesn’t know why, or how, but he knows that he broke him out of that ball. He’s responsible for him.

At least, until he learns how to live on his own.

* * *

 

To say the least, Terushima’s got a lot of things swirling around in his head. 

Oikawa calms him down, and he tries not to focus on the fact that he’s lost a thousand years. A  _ thousand years. _

It’s an intangible number for humans; not that long for a sprite, sure, but it’s a long time for the world. It’s clear that it’s changed, and is nothing like when he left it. 

“Terushima?” Kyoutani’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts, and he looks over to see him walking towards the door. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can sleep.”

Sleep? Is he supposed to do that?

He spent a thousand years in a half-asleep haze. The thought of sleeping, being alone again - it’s very unappealing. He wants to stay with Kyoutani, though, so he gets up, and follows after him. 

Oikawa tells him he’ll come check on him tomorrow, and Terushima nods, because he’d like that.

Kyoutani’s half way down the hallway when Terushima catches up; he follows him back down that same staircase, but this way in a different direction down the hallway. Kyoutani’s pointing things out as they walk - the mess hall, armouries, the different shops, where to go to get quests - Terushima files away all of the information, wanting to go and explore, but at the same time, not wanting to leave Kyoutani. 

“This is my room,” Kyoutani explains when they finally stop at a long hallway filled with individual rooms. He opens the door, showing Terushima inside. “It’s nothing fancy, but you can stay here for now.” The room itself is fairly bare - Kyoutani doesn’t keep a lot of stuff - his bed pushed up against one wall, messy and unmade. There’s a couch in here, and a fireplace - a door leads off to his own baths, and although it’s small, it’s Kyoutani’s, evidenced by his things strewn across the room. The entire place just smells like him; Terushima can relax, a little. Smells are important to sprites, and he’s learning to associate this one with Kyoutani.

“We can get you your own room some time soon,” Kyoutani suggests, as he drops his things by his bed. 

“No!” Terushima freezes at that suggestion - the last thing he wants is to be alone again,  _ please, no _ \- but manages to collect himself. “Um, I can just sleep on the couch. If that’s okay?”

Kyoutani watches him, carefully, but nods. “Sure.” He looks from the couch to his bed, picking one of his blankets off, and tossing it to Terushima. “Sorry, I only have the two.”

“It’s fine,” Terushima assures - he prefers it this way, really. He wraps the blanket around himself, dropping down onto the couch. Kyoutani watches him as he lays himself down, squirming until he finds some semblance of comfort.

He inhales deeply and tries to relax, but he doesn’t sleep. 

But it’s okay - he can hear Kyoutani’s breathing, and people moving around in the Guild; at least he’s not alone anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It got a little sad at the end and i wasn't expecting that - but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless!  
> I'm so sorry for the wait with this one. I've had the month from Hell, and writing has been hard; focusing on long stories, even harder. I adore these two though and still have so much planned.


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